Keynote Speakers – IEOM 2020 Harare

December 8, 2020, Tuesday

Conference Chair Remarks and Welcome Address: December 8, 2020, Tuesday, 1:45 – 2:00 pm – Zoom Meeting Room 1

Opening Keynote: Tuesday, December 8, 2020, 2:00 – 2:30 pm (Zimbabwe Time) / 8:00 am – 8:30 am (USA EST)

Prof. Kuzvinetsa Peter Dzvimbo
Chief Executive Officer
Zimbabwe Council for Higher Education (ZIMCHE)
Harare, Zimbabwe

Prof. Dzvimbo has been working in tertiary education and training; management training and consulting, open and distance learning; and the use of ICTs in higher education in Africa since 1979. He currently works as Chief Executive Officer of the Zimbabwe Council of Higher Education, previously he was a Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and Research) of the Vaal University of Technology, South Africa. From March 2009 to July 2011, Prof. Dzvimbo was a Deputy Executive Dean in the College of Human Sciences, then an Executive Dean in the College of Education at the University of South Africa (UNISA). Professor Dzvimbo was a member of the UNESCO international jury on Electronic Learning for five years which met annually in Paris to assess global projects in eLearning.

Prior to his appointment to UNISA, he was a Professor of Education Management and Head of the Department of Education Management at the University of Johannesburg. He became Rector of the African Virtual University (AVU) in Nairobi, Kenya, for four years from the World Bank in Washington, DC where he was a Senior Education Specialist in tertiary education and training. As Rector of the AVU in Kenya, he worked with almost 60% of the major universities on the African continent in the field of ICTs in education. During that time, he gained valuable experience in working in education development, leadership and management in Francophone Africa (Burundi, DRC, Djibouti, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal), Lusophone (Mozambique) and Anglophone Africa (Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Namibia, Nigeria, Somaliland, Swaziland, Uganda, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe,). He was responsible for strategic direction and leadership of the AVU and its activities in Africa and its partners in Canada, the USA and Australia. While in the World Bank, he worked in the fields of strategic planning and management, sector studies, program evaluation and monitoring, ICTs in education, education policy and planning, tertiary education and training, capacity development at national level and teacher education in Ghana, Grenada, Jamaica, Mozambique, Namibia, Sierra Leone, St. Lucia, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago. He also provided sector support to a number of education projects globally.

He was the founding Vice-Chancellor of the Zimbabwe Open University. Prior to that appointment, he was a Pro-Vice Chancellor at the University of Zimbabwe and a Dean in the Faculty of Education at the same institution for five years. He held teaching positions at the University of Zimbabwe, the University of Wisconsin-Madison (USA); the University of the Witwatersrand (RSA); the Rand Afrikaans University (1995-1998) (RSA); and the School of Basic Studies at Ahmadu Bello University (Nigeria) from 1979-1981. He was a deputy principal of a secondary technical teachers college and trained primary school teachers through open and distance learning in Zimbabwe during the early 1980s. His first teaching career was as a secondary school teacher in Freetown, Sierra Lone in 1977.

Prof. Dzvimbo obtained his PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (USA) in Educational Policy Studies; a M.Ed. in Administration and Planning from Ahmadu Bello University in Nigeria; a Post Graduate Diploma in Education from Fourah Bay College, the University of Sierra Leone; and a BA from the same university. He has worked in over 20 countries in Africa in teacher education; change management in education; the use of ICTs in higher education; and open, distance and electronic learning (ODEL) since 1990. His main areas of interest are basic and applied research in ODeL.

Keynote II: Tuesday, December 8, 2:30 – 3:00 pm (Zimbabwe Time) / 8:30 am – 9:00 am (USA EST)

Dr. Esther T. Akinlabi
Director Pan African University for Life and Earth Sciences Institute (PAULESI)
Ibadan, Nigeria

Professor Esther Titilayo Akinlabi is a Full Professor of Mechanical Engineering. She was recently appointed as the Director of the Pan African University for Life and Earth Sciences Institute (PAULESI), Ibadan, Nigeria. The Pan African University (PAU) is a continental initiative of the African Union Commission, Addis Ababa to revitalize Higher Education and Research in Africa. PAULESI represents the West African Hub of the Pan African University hosted by the University of Ibadan, Nigeria.

Prior to joining PAULESI, she had a decade of meritorious service at the Department of Mechanical Engineering Science, Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of Johannesburg (UJ), South Africa. During her period of service at UJ, she had the privilege to serve as the Head of Department of the Department of Mechanical Engineering Science and as the Vice Dean for Teaching and Learning for the Faculty. Her research interest is in the field of modern and advanced manufacturing processes – Friction stir welding and additive manufacturing. Her research in the field of laser based additive manufacturing include laser material processing and surface engineering. She also conducts research in the field of renewable energy, and biogas production from waste. She is a rated National Research Foundation (NRF) researcher in South Africa and has demonstrated excellence in all fields of endeavors.

Prof Akinlabi has supervised to completion 22 PhD candidates and 28 Masters Students. Her leadership, mentorship and research experience is enviable as she guides her team of postgraduate students through the research journey. She is a recipient of several research grants and has received many awards of recognition to her credit. She is a registered member of the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA), Council for the Regulation of Engineering Profession in Nigeria (COREN), South African Institution of Mechanical Engineers (SAIMechE), the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), USA. Prof Akinlabi has filed two patents, edited four books, published seven books and authored/co-authored over 500 peer reviewed publications.

Keynote III: Tuesday, December 8, 3:00 – 3:30 pm (Zimbabwe Time) / 9:00 am – 9:30 am (USA EST)

Henk Viljoen
Head of Business Development for Africa & Middle East
Siemens Digital Industries Software
Pretoria, Gauteng
South Africa

Henk Viljoen is heading business development in Africa & Middle East for Siemens Digital Industries Software. He graduated with a B.Eng. Mechanical Degree at the University of Pretoria, South Africa in 1995 and over the past 25-years have supported numerous companies in the discrete and process industries to improve their business results. Business improvement was achieved using Siemens Digital Enterprise Suite, incorporating Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) & Manufacturing Operations Management (MOM) technologies, supporting the entire value chain from Product design, Production planning, Production engineering, Production execution and Services.

The following business goals were achieved:

Faster new product development launch time.
Lower material and operational cost.
Optimize manufacturing performance and agility.
Achieve quality assurance and ever-increasing regulatory compliance.
Efficient & secure supplier collaboration.

Title of Talk: Revolutionize plant production with digitalization

Understand the key elements and goals of the complete Digital Transformation of a plants production.
RaisioAqua Industrial IoT Case Study – By feeding real time production data back into factory simulation and process scheduling software production is improved continuously.
Implement digital transformation in plant production enabled by Siemens MindSphere IoT, Tecnomatix Plant Simulation and OPCENTER Advanced Planning & Scheduling (APS) software.

Keynote IV: Tuesday, December 8, 3:30 – 4:00 pm (Zimbabwe Time) / 9:30 am – 10:00 am (USA EST)

Douglas Mboweni, Ph.D.
Group Chief Executive Officer
Econet Wireless Zimbabwe Limited
Harare, Zimbabwe

Douglas Mboweni is the CEO of Econet Wireless Zimbabwe Limited, the country’s leading provider of telecoms services and has over 20 years of senior management experience in the Information Technology and Telecommunications industry. Under his stewardship, Econet Wireless Zimbabwe used innovation in the face of difficult economic conditions to grow its subscriber base from 200,000 in 2002 to over eleven million today, a commanding market share of above 65%. Dr Mboweni was instrumental in the promotion of local mobile financial services through EcoCash, up to the unbundling and listing of its parent company, Cassava Smartech on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange as well as the set up of Mascom (Botswana) and Econet Wireless Nigeria. Dr. Mboweni graduated with a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Degree in Business Leadership from the Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU) in 2019. In his doctorate thesis, he proposed the Leadership-Driven Resilience Model (LDRM), which theoretically proffered possibilities for business leaders to develop sustainable coping strategies in response to extreme business operating environments. Dr. Mboweni is also a visiting Professor of Practice at the University of Johannesburg since 2018 and is a holder of a Masters in Business Leadership (UNISA), and a BSc Mathematics and Computer Science degree from the University of Zimbabwe (UZ). In recognition of his leadership and his success, Dr. Mboweni has won several national and international accolades. He continues to show leadership through a number of youth mentorship programmes in the community and is an opinion leader on telecommunications and technology in Zimbabwe and abroad. Dr. Mboweni is married to Sarudzayi and they are blessed with 3 children.

Keynote V: Tuesday, December 8, 4:00 – 4:30 pm (Zimbabwe Time) / 10:00 am – 10:30 am (USA EST)

Dr. Robert Van Til
Chair and Pawley Professor of Lean Studies
Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Oakland University
Rochester, Michigan, USA

Lessons Learned Integrating Industry 4.0 into an Educational Program

Robert Van Til is the Pawley Professor of Lean Studies and Chair of Oakland University’s Industrial and Systems Engineering Department. He earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan State University as well as M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Northwestern University. Dr. Van Til is also associated with Oakland University’s Pawley Lean Institute.

Dr. Van Til’s educational and research interests focus on the modeling, analysis and control of manufacturing systems, lean and Industry 4.0. His projects have been supported by the National Science Foundation and the Michigan Economic Development Corp. as well as by companies such as Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Ford

December 9, 2020, Wednesday

Conference Co-Chair Remarks: December 9, 2020, Tuesday, 1:45 – 2:00 pm – Zoom Meeting Room 1

Keynote VI, Wednesday, December 9, 2:00 – 2:30 pm (Zimbabwe Time) / 8:00 am – 8:30 am (USA EST)

Professor Mqhele Dlodlo, PhD (FZweIE; Pr.Eng. (ECZ); FZAS)
Vice-Chancellor
National University of Science and Technology (NUST)
Ascot, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

Innovative Industrialisation – the Impact of Education 5.0 on University Operations in COVID-19 Times

Mqhele Enock-Hershal Dlodlo (FZweIE, MIEEE, Pr.Eng. (ECZ), FZAS) earned a PhD (1996) from Delft University of Technology, a master’s degree in electrical engineering (1989) from Kansas State University, and two bachelor’s degrees in electrical engineering (1980), mathematics and independent studies in engineering management (1983), from Geneva College, Beaver Falls, PA, USA.

He is the Vice-Chancellor of the National University of Science and Technology. At the University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa, he is an Emeritus Associate Professor in telecommunications in the Electrical Engineering Department. His research interests are in wireless communication systems and applications.

An active member of the Communications Research Group (CRG) in the Telkom Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Broadband Networks and Applications he continues to co-supervise PhD students. His CoE projects have attracted substantial funding to the CoE from industry and THRIP since 2007. The research has led to over eighty international refereed publications, eight PhD theses and numerous master’s dissertations.

Between May 2008 and August 2011, he successfully led a departmental team working on an Innovation Fund (TIA) Project T70026 on low-bandwidth video streaming, with a patent application filed in South Africa, and a number of international refereed publications. Team members: an Emeritus Professor, a PhD candidate and four MSc (Eng) students – two of the masters’ students graduated with nearly error-free dissertations. Spin-off: an online business linked to a consortium consisting of UCT, CSIR (Meraka in Pretoria) and East Coast Access (Pty) Ltd (a media solutions provider in Durban). The research and development consortium handed the project over to a spin-off company, Tuluntulu (Pty) Ltd. The project brought R 2 477 410 to the department and commercialisation may bring in some profits in the medium term.

In the time at UCT, Prof. Dlodlo served as Assistant Dean for Internationalization and Programme Convener for the Master of Engineering (Telecommunications) degree programme. He has also designed curricula, taught, consulted, researched, headed departments and faculties at NUST as well as the Bulawayo Polytechnic over twenty-one years. In 2003 he became a Fulbright Senior African Scholar at Virginia Tech in America, studying Learning and Information Technology Initiatives for academic leadership in research, learning, and fundraising..

Keynote VII, Wednesday, December 9, 2:30 – 3:00 pm (Zimbabwe Time) / 8:30 am – 9:00 am (USA EST)

Corrado La Forgia
VP Operations Manager and Managing Director
BOSCH VHIT – CR
Offanengo, Lombardy, Italy

Title: “Digitalization of production processes”

How can we let the machines “talking”, transforming data in precious information
How can we use artificial intelligence and how can we digitalize also old equipment (digital revamping)

Born in 1965, Mr. la Forgia Corrado Felice graduated at University in Bari as Mechanical Engineer and he started his career as manufacturing manager in companies like ANSALDO, OSRAM, MAGNETI MARELLI and BOSCH Group, for which he has been working for 12 years.

He had working experiences abroad (Germany and Austria) and he has been working as Managing Director and Operational Manager in Bosch plant in Crema (manufacturing plant for components in automotive market) for more than 7 years.

He is also Vice President and Deputy for Innovation in regional Confindustria Cremona (Industrial Association) and a member of National Task Force of Federmeccanica (Mechanical Companies Association) on Industry 4.0 topic.

He worked together with Economics Department of University in Genova on digital innovation. Interested in innovation issues and in particular in enabler technologies of Industry 4.0, he is the author, together with Nicola Intini, Luca Beltrametti e Nino Guarnacci, of the book: ‘La Fabbrica Connessa – La manifattura italiana (attra)verso Industria 4’ (Edizioni Angelo Guerini e Associati S.r.l.).

In 2019 his second book ‘Ada, Alan and the Mysteries of The IoT ‘, written with Nicola Intini, Raffaella Misciosca, Sabrina De Santis and Pierpaolo Pontrandolfo (Angelo Guerini Editions and Associates S.r.l.) was published.

Keynote VIII, Wednesday, December 9, 3:00 – 3:30 pm (Zimbabwe Time) / 9:00 am – 9:30 am (USA EST)

Dr. Marco Lübbecke
Professor of Operations Research
RWTH Aachen University
Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia
Germany

Dr. Marco Lübbecke has been professor and holder of the Chair of Operations Research at RWTH Aachen University since 2010. Prof. Marco Lübbecke studied mathematics at the TU Braunschweig, where he graduated in 1996. He received his doctorate in mathematics from the same university in 2001. In 2007 he habilitated in mathematics at the TU Berlin. In 2009/2010 Marco Lübbecke was guest professor for discrete optimization at the TU Darmstadt before he was appointed to Aachen. Marco Lübbecke’s research is both theoretical and application-oriented. He regards his work as very interdisciplinary and feels at home in surgical research, algorithmic discrete mathematics and theoretical computer science.

Keynote IX, Wednesday, December 9, 3:30 – 4:00 pm (Zimbabwe Time) / 9:30 am – 10:00 am (USA EST)

Prof. Quinton Kanhukamwe
Vice Chancellor
Harare Institute of Technology
Harare, Zimbabwe

Eng Kanhukamwe has steered the Harare Institute of Technology (HIT) ship since its inception as a fully-fledged University in 2005. Its now boasts of five schools, five centres of excellence offering worldclass science, engineering and technology based degree programmes.

As a result of his astute leadership, HIT has received several accolades both on the local and international scene in recognition of academic excellence, engineering innovation, and innovation in the areas of the University’s mandate of technology development, incubation, transfer and commercialisation. HIT has also signed more than 80 collaborative agreements with renowned universities.

Eng Kanhukamwe’s academic career began in 1991, when he was appointed lecturer at the Bulawayo Polytechnic. In 1992, he moved on and was part of the founding team of academics at the National University of Science and Technology (NUST). In subsequent years, he proved his mettle leading to his appointment in 1999 as Chairman of the Industrial Technology Department and subsequently Dean of the Faculty of Industrial Technology. During this time also taught at Postgraduate level at NUST and the University of Zimbabwe.

In 2003 he was appointed Chairman of the Transformation Committee of HIT, which came up with the roadmap for developing HIT into a fully-fledged university. The promulgation of the HIT Act [Chapter 25:26] in 2005 was in part the outcome of the work of this committee. From 2005 to 2008, Eng. Kanhukamwe served as Pro-Vice Chancellor of HIT. He was then mandated to lead HIT as the Acting Vice Chancellor in 2008, until this appointment in as substantive VC in 2013.

Eng. Kanhukamwe holds an MSc in Engineering and is a member of the Institute of Industrial Engineers (MIIE-USA), Institute of Cast Metals Engineers (MICME-UK), Professional Engineer- Engineering Council of Zimbabwe (MZwIE, Pr (ECZ)). He has well over 40 publications in refereed journals and currently pursuing a Doctor of Technology degree.

He is a board member of the Engineering Council of Zimbabwe and Zimbabwe United Passenger Company (ZUPCO), a member of World Technopolis Association (WTA), Southern Africa Regional Universities Association (SARUA), Association of African Universities (AAU), Oxford Club of Rectors, Zimbabwe Institution of Engineers, a Senator with the Junior Chamber International.

His research interests are in Technology Management, Modern Manufacturing, Techniques, Systems and Processes, Materials Management Systems, Optimisation of Cleaner Production in Manufacturing Industries, Maintenance Management as well as Properties of Manufacturing Materials.

Keynote X, Wednesday, December 9, 4:00 – 4:30 pm (Zimbabwe Time) / 10:00 am – 10:30 am (USA EST)

Professor Paul Mapfumo
Vice Chancellor
University of Zimbabwe
Harare, Zimbabwe

BSc. (Hon.), M.Phil., D.Phil. Soil Science (UZ)

Full Professor of Soil Science, Tropical Agro-systems Ecology and Climate Change. Areas of scientific expertise include: Research Innovations Design; Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics and Nutrient Cycling in Tropical Agro-ecosystems; Carbon Sequestration, Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM); Biological Nitrogen Fixation (BNF); Soil geochemistry applications in agriculture and health; Agro-ecology, Climate Smart Agriculture; and Agro-systems Analysis.

Professor Mapfumo is internationally renowned academic, scientist and policy advisor known for his exceptional strength in critical and strategic thinking, and has contributed immensely in the design and implementation of scientific research and innovation programmes in Africa and globally. Serves on several national, regional and international technical and advisory boards.

December 10, 2020, Thursday

Conference Co-Chair Remarks: December 10, 2020, Tuesday, 1:45 – 2:00 pm – Zoom Meeting Room 1

Keynote XI, Thursday, December 10, 2:00 – 2:30 pm (Zimbabwe Time) / 8:00 am – 8:30 am (USA EST)

Prof. Maneesh Kumar
Professor in Service Operations
Cardiff Business School
Cardiff University
Cardiff, UK

Maneesh Kumar is a Professor of Service Operations at Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University. He conducts cross disciplinary applied research in the area of Operational Excellence including topics such as Quality Management, Lean Six Sigma (LSS), Lean, Green, and Innovation (iLEGO), Healthcare Process/Service Innovation using Big Data Analytics, Knowledge Clusters for capability enhancement within SMEs. This has resulted in publications of over 120 journals and conferences papers, edited books, and conference proceedings. His research participants encompasses range of industry including Automotive Industry (India, UK, Japan), Service Industries and Public Sector organizations including NHS. His current research interests are integration of Operations Excellence with Industry 4.0 and Big data environment, Operational Capabilities development in micro and small companies through cluster formation, sustaining operations excellence, Innovative Circular Economy Business Models.

He is co-hosting 25th Lean Enterprise Research Centre (LERC) conference on 10th September 2019 in Cardiff university. He co-chaired 21st Quality Management & Organisational Development Conference hosted in Cardiff University from 22nd-24th August, 2018. He has also initiated a first practice based forum on Lean Green and Innovation (iLEGO) that brings practitioner community together to have engaged discussion on synergies and misalignments between the three topics and promote cross learning between different industries. The 3rd iLEGO workshop was hosted on 15th January 2019 in Cardiff University.

He has been recognised for his outstanding contributions to teaching at Cardiff University’s Celebrating Excellence Awards 2018 in the category of ‘Excellence in Teaching including Training & Development’.

He has been involved in delivering LSS training up to Black Belt level and delivered several workshops on LSS application in different type and size of industries including Kwik-Fit Insurance Services, Standard Life, Admiral, Principality, Bakkavor Group, Norbert Dentressangle, Norgine Ltd., Celsa Steel, NHS Grampian, NHS Sheltand, Edinburgh City Council, Aberdeenshire Council, Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) and Tata Motors. He is also a regular speaker at International Conferences and Seminars on LSS & Process Excellence.

Keynote XII, Thursday, December 10, 2:30 – 2:00 pm (Zimbabwe Time) / 8:30 am – 9:00 am (USA EST)

Prof. Nidhal Rezg, Ph.D.
Professor and Director of LGIPM
University of Lorraine
Metz, Grand Est, France
Secretary General of the MATERALIA Pole
Director General of UPS DITEX

Nidhal Rezg is a professor at the University of Lorraine; he is a Doctor of Industrial Automatic from the National Institute of Applied Sciences (INSA) in Lyon in 1996. Accreditation to supervise research at the University of Metz in 2003. he was Professor at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Moncton, New Brunswick Canada from 1997 to 1999 and Associate professor at the University of Metz until 2004, and currently holds the position of Professor of University. He is director of LGIPM laboratory since October 2006 and scientific responsable of the INRIA CusTom team from 2007 to 2011. His research interest is the optimization of maintenance policies coupled to production, the optimal control SED. He is the author of sixty papers in international journals, directors of 12 theses and 4 Accreditation to supervise research. Keywords researches are modeling, simulation and optimization of stochastic processes, reliability and maintenance and Petri nets.

Keynote XIII, Thursday, December 10, 3:00 – 3:30 pm (Zimbabwe Time) / 9:00 am – 9:30 am (USA EST)

Professor Ephraim Tobela Gwebu, PhD
Vice Chancellor
Solusi University
Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

Professor Ephraim Gwebu has been involved in tertiary education as a teacher/administrator and biomedical research trainer in the USA (1978 – 2015). He is the current Vice-Chancellor of Solusi University. Prior to this appointment he held the following positions: Dean of the School of Science and Technology at Rusangu University, Zambia (2016- 2018); Head of the Department of Chemistry Physics and Environmental Science at Elizabeth City State University (ECSU) ( a constituent of the University of North Carolina System, USA (2003 -2015); Director of Research and Faculty at Oakwood University (OU) (1978-2003); He was funded by the National Institutes of Health, NIH (USA), National Science Foundation, NSF (USA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Howard Hughes Research Institute USA (1988 – 2014) as Director/Principal Investigator of biomedical research training programs while a faculty member at OU and ECSU. He has been a member of Study Sections of NIH and NSF and South African National Research Foundation (NRF) to review proposals for funding by these agencies.

He collaborated with NASA and Bio Space Technology Group to design and perform an experiment aboard the NASA Columbia shuttle in 2003. This is the NASA Shuttle that exploded upon entry into the atmosphere in January 2003. The experiment was an attempt to stimulate nerve regeneration under conditions of zero gravity. Inability of nerve to regenerate after an injury to the nervous system is a major cause of paralysis.

Professor Gwebu was Director General Research in the Ministry of Health, Zimbabwe (1981-1985). In 1983, he established the Zimbabwe National Cancer Registry with funding from the World Health Organization (WHO). He has also collaborated with colleagues at the University of Swaziland, University of Zululand, University of Botswana and currently collaborates with the University Fort Hare and Walter Sisulu University in South Africa on drug discovery.

He obtained his PhD from The Ohio State University USA in Medical Biochemistry , having been exempted for the M.Sc., and a B.Sc. in Chemistry with Education from the University of Sierra Leone (Njala). He is a member of the following professional societies: American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, American Chemical Society, Society for Neuroscience, Society for In Vitro Biology , American Public Health Association and American Association for the Advancement of Science. He was the 2015 recipient of the University of North Carolina Systems Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Keynote XIV, Thursday, December 10, 3:30 – 4:00 pm (Zimbabwe Time) / 9:30 am – 10:00 am (USA EST)

Professor David Simbi
Vice-Chancellor
Chinhoyi University of Technology
Chinhoyi, Zimbabwe

Professor David Jambgwa Simbi was born on 6 June 1952 near Nyazura. He enrolled at Dowa Council Primary School in 1959, transferred to Nyazura Mission in 1966 and finally Solusi Secondary School in 1970. David’s first employment was as a Technical Laboratory Assistant and Temporary Secondary School Teacher at Solusi after his ‘O’ Levels in 1972. In 1974, David secured a place and enrolled at Glenside Hospital in Bristol, UK for a Mental Health Nurse Certificate at Brunnel College.

Concurrently, he studied for his Ordinary national certificate in Maths, Physics and Chemistry. David immediately enrolled for a BSc in Applied Chemistry at the University of Portsmouth in 1977. Graduating with BSc Hons degree in 1981, David was offered a PhD scholarship in Metallurgy specializing in Corrosion Engineering at the University of Leeds and successfully defended his thesis in 1984.

After completing his PhD David returned to Zimbabwe, and in 1985 was appointed a Manager responsible for Technical Development at ZISCO Steel (Pvt) Ltd. In 1988, David joined the University of Zimbabwe as a lecturer in and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 1994. He was approached and requested to take up the post of Works Executive at ZISCO in 1999 in a bid to resuscitate and operationalise Blast Furnace No. 4 and returned to the UZ upon completing his task in 2000.

In 2002, he was promoted to Associate Professor and eventually Full Professor in 2005. Professor Simbi contributed immensely to the Metallurgical Engineering field at the University of Zimbabwe and other Universities within the region. He chaired the Department of Metallurgy for 2 terms between 1991-94 and 1996-99 and also serving as Deputy Dean from 1997-1999 and briefly in 2003 before taking over the full reigns as Dean of the Faculty of Engineering towards the end of the same year. In 2005 he was appointed the Pro Vice Chancellor of Chinhoyi University Technology (C.U.T) and has been the Vice Chancellor of C.U.T from 2006.

Professor Simbi has held several Visiting appointments (Visiting Research Fellow, Visiting Senior Lecturer and Visiting Professor such prestigious institutions as University of Cape Town, University of Zambia, British Steel Corporation, Duisburg University and Aachen University of Technology both in Germany. He also sits on a number of Boards including Tobacco Industries Marketing Board and SIRDC and he is also the current Chairman of Kwekwe Polytechnic Advisory Council. He was also the Vice Chairman of the Manicaland University of Applied Sciences Foundation Committee. Professor Simbi has taught and continues to teach several courses in Metallurgy and Chemical Engineering ranging from pyrometallurgy, corrosion engineering, construction materials, fuels, energy and environmental studies. He has also successfully supervised 13 MPhil students and 6 DPhil students. Professor Simbi has published over 50 papers in refereed journals. He has also reviewed a number of books mainly in corrosion and has also published numerous technical reports of consultancies. He is currently working on a text book on Corrosion for undergraduate.

Professor Simbi acknowledges the contributions made by various professionals and people in his academic development. Notable ones are: his cousin, the late Professor Made, the former UZ librarian who took care of all his educational needs during secondary school, his several mentors from the University of Portsmouth and the University of Leeds, his long time colleague and friend, Dr. Chinyamakobvu for providing the necessary competition when it came to research publications and of course his father and mother, who unknowingly provided his foundation as a seasoned metallurgist and chemical engineer.

Lastly, Professor Simbi does not live on his own. He is a very happily married man to Margaret Masenda-Simbi and the couple has been blessed with three children 2 girls and 1 boy. He draws most of his inspiration from his family, Mrs. Simbi and the children and God Almighty.

Keynote XV, Thursday, December 10, 4:00 – 4:30 pm (Zimbabwe Time) / 10:00 am – 10:30 am (USA EST)

Professor Thong Ngee GOH
Emeritus Professor
Department of Industrial Systems Engineering and Management
Former Head of the Industrial and Systems Engineering Department and Former Dean of Engineering
National University of Singapore

Title: Megatrends facing the Industrial Engineers

GOH, Thong Ngee holds a PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is a Registered Professional Engineer. A Project Specialist at Lockheed Aircraft before joining the National University of Singapore, he has served as Head of the Industrial and Systems Engineering Department and Dean of Engineering; he was also Director of the University’s Office of Quality Management. He was CEO of Design Technology Institute International, a joint venture between Singapore and the Netherlands.

Professor Goh is a Founding Fellow of the Singapore Academy of Engineering, and Founder President of the Singapore Institute of Industrial Engineers. He has been named “Educator of the Year” by the IEEE Engineering Management Society, was recipient of the inaugural Masing Book Prize of the International Academy for Quality, Harrington-Ishikawa Medal of the Asia-Pacific Quality Organization, the William Hunter Award and the Eugene Grant Medal of the American Society for Quality.

Professor Goh has been on the editorial boards of some ten international research journals, published more than four hundred technical papers and six specialized books. A frequent invited speaker at professional conferences and corporate meetings, he has served variously as advisory board member, awards judge, external examiner or reviewer for academic institutions and government agencies in various countries.

Abstract: Many Industrial Engineering and Operations Research curricula today in universities and colleges are still built upon traditional paradigm along the line of “Scientific Management”. While canonical techniques are useful, new breeds of IEOR practitioners should deliberate beyond them and consciously make themselves relevant in the days to come. In this presentation, some notable megatrends that exist in the real world are highlighted to bring about awareness of various related issues.

Keynote Speakers – IEOM 2020 Harare

December 8, 2020, Tuesday

Prof. Kuzvinetsa Peter Dzvimbo Chief Executive Officer Zimbabwe Council for Higher Education (ZIMCHE) Harare, Zimbabwe

Dr. Esther T. Akinlabi Director Pan African University for Life and Earth Sciences Institute (PAULESI) Ibadan, Nigeria

Henk Viljoen Head of Business Development for Africa & Middle East Siemens Digital Industries Software Pretoria, Gauteng South Africa

Douglas Mboweni, Ph.D. Group Chief Executive Officer Econet Wireless Zimbabwe Limited Harare, Zimbabwe

Dr. Robert Van Til Chair and Pawley Professor of Lean Studies Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering Oakland University Rochester, Michigan, USA

December 9, 2020, Wednesday

Professor Mqhele Dlodlo, PhD (FZweIE; Pr.Eng. (ECZ); FZAS) Vice-Chancellor National University of Science and Technology (NUST) Ascot, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

Corrado La Forgia VP Operations Manager and Managing Director BOSCH VHIT – CR Offanengo, Lombardy, Italy

Dr. Marco Lübbecke Professor of Operations Research RWTH Aachen University Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia Germany

Prof. Quinton Kanhukamwe Vice Chancellor Harare Institute of Technology Harare, Zimbabwe

Professor Paul Mapfumo Vice Chancellor University of Zimbabwe Harare, Zimbabwe